Sunday, September 20, 2015

How far would you go to save a life?

I've been on the Organ Donor Registry for about 30 years.  I signed up before most states gave you that option on your driver's license.  It was a no brainer as they say, and what could it hurt?  I would be dead by the time they came to collect.





I've often thought about being a living donor.  I donated blood for years before a doctor diagnosed me with Lyme's Disease and said I shouldn't donate any more.  Although recently, another doctor tested me for Lyme's and I came back clean.  So I will probably start donating blood again, once I get off the meds for the auto-immune issue I developed because of the statins I was on.

Anyway, back to being a living donor.  Donating blood isn't that hard.  I've wondered though, do I have what it takes to donate part of my liver?  A kidney?  Bone marrow?  That involves more commitment, more pain, and more risk.  I think I might sign up to be a bone marrow donor, once I have a clean bill of health.  My thought is, what's a little pain or risk, if it means you could save a life?

5 comments:

OldLady Of The Hills said...

I have a good friend who needed a Kidney Transplant and one of his sisters is a perfect match. If he had had to wait on the Kidney Registry list, it might have taken years and years.....He just had the operation and both he and his sister are doing very very well. I think it is a true gift to be able to do that.....Bless you for all the Blood you have given, and who knows what the future may bring. Much good luck with everything, my dear.

VV said...

Thanks Naomi. A casual friend of mine died today, heart attack and blood clot. She was surrounded by friends and co-workers when it happened. She was walking into the hospital where she works. The ER doctor was walking in right behind her when she collapsed. She got the best and most immediate care anyone could have received. They brought her back a couple times, but in the end, she couldn't hold on. I was talking to another friend who was there today. She was talking to her last night, making dinner plans for Thursday, talking about an upcoming conference she was going to attend, then this happens. The sudden-ness of it all has really shaken a lot of us. Here one minute, gone the next. The ER doctor has been really upset about this. He knew her. He saw her daily, and she was a ray of light to anyone she got near. She was a social worker, and easily the most peaceful, gentle person I've ever met. I wish good people like her could live longer.

Anonymous said...

Am sorry to learn of your friends passing. Death to me is such a thief. I've never understood one taking one's own life, nor the accidental things that happen in this world. Or the out of the blue, here today gone in the blink of an eye.
I know that the circle of life needs to happen and we all have a day pre established, just never understood the point if in fact there is one. And this thought process goes against what my religious teachings tell me.
However.
Prayers for her family and friends.

VV said...

Love you Pat. See you Sunday.

التميز المثالي للخدمات المنزلية said...
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CK, here’s the tattoo

  From sketch to transfer to tattoo